This week I laser cut a snap-fit box. I had never really used a laser cutter before, so this was pretty fun.
First, I cut out the kerf box template and measured it to be ~0.008″.
With this done, I used the online software to design my box. I kept it pretty simple, putting my crest on one side and my name and information on another. Looking back, I might’ve put some more designs on the other sides just to make it a bit cooler.
I used the Epilog Pro to cut out my box, and this ended up taking longer than expected. I followed the TA recommended settings for the cutting, using 55 speed, 40 power and 50 frequency, which took over 10 minutes for 4 cycles . Amazingly my box was still not cut out by the end, but luckily I hadn’t moved the piece, so I jsut ran an additional two cycles with a bit more power to get it fully cut out.
Once all the pieces were popped out, I used an angled wire cutter to snip off some small splinters to be flush. My fittings ended up quite snug (had to use a mallet to persuade some of them together), leaving me with a pretty sturdy box in the end. I’m happy with how it turned out and feel good about using the laser cutter now.
Cost Breakdown:
Wood: 10″x15″ at $55 for 10 pieces of 12″x20″ -> $3.43
Labor: 2.5 hours at $10 -> $25
Total: $28.43
